It’s not MAGIC—It’s food PROCESSING! by Robert Karmazyn

The Food Industry is Killing Us for Profit

Those of you who are in your 60s, maybe even 50s, may still remember that a long, long time ago, food in general didn’t last long and was more perishable. Who knows, maybe we are the last generation to remember and understand that, usually, natural, unprocessed food products have a very short shelf-life.

We may also be the last to remember that natural products may look less visually appealing without all the artificial colors, be less aromatic, less tender, and less fluffy without other artificial additions.

However, those times when food products were not “improved “by adding various chemicals are gone and almost forgotten. Why? The answer is simple. The food industry is all about money. It is a strict business which focuses on how to sell more products, how to limit losses and how to make the largest profit.

The food industry is extremely lucrative. That’s a good enough reason to make artificial “improvements,” in efforts to “engineer’ good tasting, highly processed food and beverages that are later displayed and marketed at cheap prices and long shelf lives in every C-Town or corner bodega. Additionally, every year billions of dollars are spent on marketing.

Food marketing is often promoting false nutritional information. According to Rosie Wilson, as stated in her book The Media and Communications Industry, as of 2011 the “average American encounters between 600 and 625 ads a day.” When watching ads and advertisement we should remember airtime is very expensive.

Yet, obviously the ads pay back. For decades, food companies have paid academic authorities and funded research that promotes false nutritional information. For example, Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugary beverages, is questioning the role of sugar as an obesity crisis factor and promotes a new “science-based” solution to the obesity crisis.

To maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise and worry less about cutting calories. Unfortunately, various celebrities and even health authorities persist in taking money from and forming relationships with big food businesses for their own profit. We love our celebrities and we follow their examples.

Yet, we are not paid for eating (or often just advertising) highly processed, sugary, salty, colorful candy, or salty snacks. What’s worse, we are the ones who pay the high price with our declining health, obesity and medical bills. What can we do to resist all this advertising, ads that make us crave unhealthy, processed food?

FIRST, to avoid it, we should learn more about “the enemy.” What counts as unhealthy processed food? Examples include: Sugary Drinks and Juices, French Fries and Potato Chips, Cookies, Pastries and Cakes, White Bread, Low-Fat Yogurt, Processed Meat, Ice Cream, Candy, Milk & White Chocolate, Candy Bars, Processed Cheese, Margarine, Industrially Produced Vegetable Oils, Pizza & Deep Fried, Breaded Chicken (SO, SO SORRY GUYS!), Fast Food Meals, Sweetened Coffee Drinks, and many more Low-Carb Junk Foods.

Note: it is not a secret that “fat-free” products were often described in the past as less tasty and less satisfying. To make up for that, food makers tend to pour other ingredients—especially sugar, salt, flour, thickeners such as xantam, guar, carob gums, and modified starch into the products.

Additionally, low fat, fat-free products contain mono- and diglycerides, classified as emulsifiers and therefore exempt from the labeling requirement. If you are a label reader, you will find that many low-fat or fat-free versions of your favorite food products contain multiple fat replacers. That can add calories. Meanwhile, if you are still not convinced, and you read “low fat product,” you may be tempted to eat too much of it.

SECOND, we should learn more about what makes processed food unhealthy. The list is long: Trans fats (hydrogenated oils), High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), Artificial sweeteners, ie: Aspartame, Artificial colors, Sodium nitrites and nitrates, Growth hormones (rBST and rBGH), Monosodium glutamate (MSG), Butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

THIRD, we should read the food labels. Don’t let the claims on the front of the package fool you! Again, read food labels and avoid being tricked!

I realize, it is very difficult to eliminate or at least to limit some of the aforementioned processed food products. Maybe it will be easier if you keep in mind that if you continue eating unhealthy processed food, you’ll pay later with the cost of poor health. And if you feed unhealthy processed, sugary food and drinks to your children, it may raise their risk of obesity and chronic disease.

At this point, you would probably like to yell straight in my face “What should I eat then?! You did mention here everything that I like!” Well, more about healthier options and alternative for unhealthy, processed food in the next article. Meanwhile, please focus on finding food products as close to the foods’ natural state as possible and study FOOD LABELS!
Do not give up & Bon Appetite!

Pullout: “Coca-Cola, the world’s largest producer of sugary beverages, is questioning the role of sugar as an obesity crisis factor and promotes a new ‘science-based’ solution to the obesity crisis: To maintain a healthy weight, get more exercise and worry less about cutting calories.”